Friday, March 27, 2015

"Theatre has the power to move, inspire, transform and educate in ways that no other art form can. Theatre reflects both the extraordinary diversity of cultures and our shared human condition, in all its vulnerability and strength."

Various national and international theatre events are organized to mark this occasion.

One of the most important of these is the circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message through which at the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace.

The first World Theatre Day International Message was written by Jean Cocteau (France) in 1962.

"Most often I turn to prose for guidance. Day in and day out I find myself thinking about writers who nearly one hundred years ago described prophetically but also restrainedly the decline of the European gods, the twilight that plunged our civilization into a darkness that has yet to be illumined. I am thinking of Franz Kafka, Thomas Mann and Marcel Proust. Today I would also count John Maxwell Coetzee among that group of prophets."

On the 27th March 2015, most of European schools are closed. It's Easter season. But you can always introduce Theatre after the school break.

Theatre in education is used to encourage effective learning in schools. It calls for careful consideration of the audience's age and requirements in order to engage them and get the message across.

It complements school curriculum and illustrate the dynamic relationship between the performing arts and literature, history, science and world cultures.

The idea of a high impact performance for a specifically targeted school audience became very popular. Because the audiences are small, students can be encouraged to participate through work in role and through debate.

Projects can be supported with resource materials and training or support for the teachers.

Teachers may invite an actor to a debate with the students. And why notexciting educational workshops for young theater enthusiasts.

Theworkshops will not only provide instruction on acting and theatre, but will "help students build their public speaking skills and confidence by using more nontraditional, artistic teaching methods."

Even so, after Easter break go to the theatre next the school in your city with your students! Best lesson you can share with you students about theatre.

If you are teaching at a Vocational school of Theatre, of course you will talk a lot and will have special activities to celebrate the day.

Students can celebrate WTD 2015 by cliking on the map of celebrations to find out more about the different events organized for WTD 2015 all over the world.

“The legend seeks to explain what cannot be explained. Because it is grounded in truth, it must end in the inexplicable”—this is how Kafka described the transformation of the Prometheus legend. I feel strongly that the same words should describe the theater. And it is that kind of theater, one which is grounded in truth and which finds its end in the inexplicable that I wish for all its workers, those on the stage and those in the audience, and I wish that with all my heart.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

The official dictionary of the Swedish language Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska spräketwill introduce a gender-neutral pronoun in April, editors at the Swedish Academy have announced.Sweden has long been progressive on gender egalitarianism, and now its language is officially catching up. A gender-neutral pronoun, hen will join its binary counterparts han (he) and hon (she) in the new edition of Sweden’s official dictionary, helping Swedish speakers avoid the sort of linguistic gymnastics common in languages without a gender-neutral alternative.The Swedish took some serious decision in their country when in 2014 officially introduced a gender-neutral pronoun “Hen”. This new pronoun included in the glossary of the Swedish Academy,Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL), stands in for han (“he”) or hon (“she”), which refers to individuals belonging to a specified sex.

The Swedish took some serious decision in their country when in 2014 officially introduced a gender-neutral pronoun “Hen”. This new pronoun included in the glossary of the Swedish Academy,Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL), stands in for han (“he”) or hon (“she”), which refers to individuals belonging to a specified sex.

“Hen” will be added to “han” (he) and “hon” (she) as one of 13,000 new words in the latest edition of the Swedish Academy’s SAOL.

Some information:

Gender equality is a proud cultural tradition in Sweden, which currently ranks fourth on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, behind Iceland, Finland, and Norway.

"Gender equality implies not only equal distribution between men and women in all domains of society," - the Swedish government proclaims on its website.

"It is also about the qualitative aspects, ensuring that the knowledge and experience of both men and women are used to promote progress in all aspects of society."

While gender-neutral language already is prevalent in dozens of cultures around the world, Western society has been more reluctant to make official changes to the traditional masculine/feminine pronoun structure.

According to Dennis Barons, a linguistics professor at the University of Illinois, more than 80 different English gender-neutral pronouns have been introduced since 1850.

"For those who use the pronoun, it’s obviously a strength that it is now in the dictionary," one of the editors, Sture Berg, told AFP last Tuesday.

The word “hen” was coined in the 1960s when the ubiquitous use of “han” (he) became politically incorrect, and was aimed at simplifying the language and avoiding the clumsy “han/hon” (s/he) construction.

Indeed, "hen" has been used in Sweden with varying success since its introduction in the 1960s. But the pronoun enjoyed a surge in popularity a few years ago, especially among early-childhood educators.

"Sweden is really the pioneer," Lann Hornscheidt, a professor of gender studies and linguistics at the Humboldt University’s Center for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies, told Newsweek last September. "No other country has made such an effort to break down gender barriers among children."

"Today, a greater proportion of women than men complete upper secondary education in Sweden, which has come to attention as a reverse gender issue. Significantly more women than men also participate in adult education. Women comprise roughly 60 per cent of all students in undergraduate university studies and almost two-thirds of all degrees are awarded to women. Equal numbers of women and men now take part in postgraduate and doctoral studies."

Gender Equality in Sweden

The implementation of the pronoun started in 2012 at nurseries, schools and newspapers.

“We haven’t started using it at home yet, but it’s just a matter of habit,” says Sofia Bergman, a Swedish mother of two. “But it’s a good thing if nurseries and schools use it.”

Now, this gender-neutrality trend is taking over other countries with their own unofficial gender-neutral pronouns.

Sweden should serve as a role model for this huge accomplishment by providing an all-inclusive/neutral environment for all.

Efficient in a variety of situations, hen, can be used when you don’t know the gender identity of the person in question, when the person is transgender, when you don’t want to reveal a gender identity, or when gender identity simply seems irrelevant in context.

The pronoun is used to refer to a person without revealing their gender – either because it is unknown, because the person is transgender, or the speaker or writer deems the gender to be superfluous information.

It can now be found in official texts, court rulings, media texts and books, and has begun to lose some of its feminist-activist connotation.

It is one of 13,000 new words chosen by the Swedish Academy for inclusion in its updated dictionary, which will be made available on April 15.

Founded in 1786, the Swedish Academyis to work "for the ’purity, vigour and majesty’ of the Swedish language, i.e. its clarity, expressiveness and prestige".

The linguistics must adapt the languages to the modern societies and cultural realities. Social media have an important role as well introducing new vocabulary, and the new generations are often the creative agents for new words and a dictionary should reflect that.

Students don't appreciate the dictionary as a god tool to homework. However the new technologies bring other concepts of the dictionary.Almost all dicitonary editions are thinking on youth creating apps. Students can use the apps in languages lessons. Dictionaries encourage knowledge, curiosity and vocabulary skills.

Students have no excuse. The dictionary is in their pocket : smartphones, iphones.

Classroom teaching Swedish language can place holder sheets practices in the use of Swedish students according to the level you are teaching. The dictionary is an essential tool: teachers, students, parents.

"No other country has made such an effort to break down gender barriers "among children."

Lotta Rajalin, (the director of the nurseries that first introduced hen)

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Recent Publications

Souto, G. (2013) Time for Action: New Challenges in Secondary Education. At Conference Proceedings, International Conference The Future of Education, Florence, Italy.

Souto, G. (2013) Visionary Learning for 2030: Secondary Education. In Booklet online "Vision on Open Education 2030 Part 2: School Education", European Commission and The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS).

TEDxKids Brussels 2011

Gina Souto was guest tweeting from TEDxKids in Brussels on June 1st."48 kids, all of them born in 2000, are going get their hands dirty, soldering, tinkering, hacking and composing. A series of hands-on workshops will introduce the kids to a range of skills and methods.

At the same time 400 adults will be treated to an all day program of leading thinkers, experts and makers."

The twitter address is @TEDxKidsEU and there was a fantastic live stream from the event.